Something Like Karma
by MagicInHerMadness
Summary: Rachel runs into the Baker-Lawsons at the grocery store


**A/N: So this is my fangirl revenge for the way Rachel was hounding Ginny about being a feminist microphone in the first episode. And for what she did to Mike even though I'm so not pleased with him atm.**

Rachel isn't sure how she even recognizes her, why she's sees the back of a head and instantly knows its Ginny. Maybe it's the oversized Padres sprit jersey, or those particularly springy dark curls piled atop her head. Whatever it is strikes her immediately and she wants to turn around, but already her feet are moving forward, pushing her cart along. She's in front of her ex-husband's new wife before she's got time to come up with something to say, and she's almost lucky because Ginny almost just moves her cart aside, but somewhere in the cosmos is a diety that has fun at her expense and makes Ginny look up from her bundle of bananas. Her face is a little fuller from the baby (she's 28 but doesn't look any older than the wide-eyed girl who took the MLB by storm-and a certain catcher too for that matter) and her smile is serene. "Rachel. Hi."

"Hi." She wants to think of something funny to say to break the awkwardness, but she can't find words. Her eyes are on the baby leisurely kicking his socked feet as he sits in the sling strapped to his mother's chest. She's seen their baby girl. She looks just like Ginny (She's heard Mike call her Rookie Jr. in ESPN, seen her shouting from their seats above home plate on Saturdays, even smiled at her dressed as a ladybug for Halloween), but this baby is something else entirely. Looking at his chubby brown face, the recognition hits her like a gut punch. He's Mike, from his large pointed ears to his ocean blue eyes. He's a few shades lighter than Ginny, and has her full lips, but he's his father's reincarnation. All that's missing is the beard. She blinks, realizes she's staring at the baby like he's got two heads then looks back at Ginny. "He's a Lawson, alright."

Ginny laughs, bubbling and sweet, and Rachel can see the laugh lines creasing her young face from too many happy days. "Isn't he? All he needs is the beard."

Rachel finally laughs too, feeling a little better. "I was just thinking that!"

"He's a lot quieter though, nothing like Jr. Between her and Mike, I've got two toddlers running around."

Rachel nods. "Mike's always wanted to be a dad. Lord knows he's got the jokes for it."

Ginny laughs. "It's a sickness."

Rachel nods. "It's a Lawson sickness."

"He and Val made me leave the room at Christmas. They started their Abbott and Costello routine and I couldn't take it."

Rachel laughs. "That one's better than their Three Stooges bit."

"Even Irina won't laugh at that one."

"It's her fault. She told them they were funny."

Ginny laughs. "The lies we tell our children."

"And now you've got another set of Lawson siblings."

"Baker-Lawsons," Ginny corrects. "So either they'll be the worst comedy duo in history, or they'll torture each other like Will and me. I think I'd welcome the violence before the jokes, honestly."

Before Rachel can reply, a tiny voice interrupts. "Mama, we found Fwosted Fwakes!"

The shuffle of little feet precedes two-year-old appearing between Ginny and Rachel, holding a box almost as large as her. She's wearing polka dotted overalls and the little squeaking shoes that Rachel loves but has no use for. Her hair is pulled into two puffs, and Rachel can clealy make out dimples in her chubby cheeks. Ginny takes the box and puts it in the cart, smiling at her clone. "Where's your Papa, Jr.?"

"Here I am." Mike appears at her side a moment later and Rachel is stunned at the difference in the man she left behind and the one standing before her. His beard is neatly trimmed, and sprinkled with gray matching the silver at his temples. And he's slimmer, his beer paunch gone and his arms toned and tanned. He picks Tillie up. "You can't leave me behind Jr. I'm your partner, right?"

Tillie nods, reaching for his beard. He chews her little fingers, makes her laugh, bubbly and musical like Ginny. Mike's eyes finally drift to her and she's surprised by the lack of resentment. He even smiles. "Hey Rach."

"Hi Mike. Good to see you." She gives her on-camera smile. "You look great."

He nods. "Thanks. Me and Jr. are learning to swim. We do ballet too. And me and Mini Mike are working on sitting up."

The baby looks up at his father, and Ginny smirks at her husband. "Stop calling him that. He thinks it's his name."

Mike grins. "It is his name."

"His name is Isaac, old man."

"With a name like that, he sounds like the old man."

Ginny bumps him with her hip and he raises his hands in surrender. Rachel watches it all, wondering if she and Mike had ever been so happy. Maybe that first season, when they were getting used to not living on peanuts. She wonders how she isn't that happy now. After all, she'd cheated on Mike, left him for her lover, all in search of the happiness crinkling her ex-husband's tanned face. And maybe she's got it, but now that she wants babies, David doesn't. He's got his first client, wants to give being an agent his full attention before he tackles fatherhood. It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't 38.

"Hi!" Tillie chirps, seeming to notice her for the first time.

"Hi," Rachel replies. She remembers when the little girl was born. (The headline "From Padres to Parents" still sticks with her for some reason, as do the glossy pictures of Mike and Ginny's evolution from pitcher and catcher to parents. One of them is permanently in her memory: Ginny and Mike roller blading in Venice Beach. She was wearing tiny high-waist shorts that only someone that young and hot could pull off, and a cropped hoodie, and those big round hippie sunglasses. And Mike... She doesn't even remember what Mike was wearing, only the smile on his face as Ginny pulled him along on the boardwalk.) "How old are you now?"

"Two!" She holds up three tiny fingers, the nails painted the most delicate shade of pink.

"I like your nails! Who did them?"

"Papa," she answers proudly, pointing at Mike who's grinning like the Cheshire cat.

"We're practicing for the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. We're gonna win Grand Supreme, aren't we Jr?"

Rachel glances at Ginny, who only smiles and shakes her head. "I'll be there."

"Make sure you cheer us on," Mike replies.

A hand on her elbow announces David at her side. She looks up at him, smiles because he's the choice she made. He's holding a case of beer and a bag of tortilla chips, which is still his idea of groceries at 42. "We should go get some actual groceries."

"Well it was nice seeing you guys," Ginny says with a smile.

Mike sets Tillie in the front of the cart, nods at Rachel and David before he looks at his baby girl again. "Let's go pick out some candy!"

"Only one," Ginny calls behind them, laughing when Mike looks back and shakes her off. She smiles at Rachel and David. "I should go wrangle them. Bye."

"Bye," Rachel replies, waving at Isaac. He gives a small backwards wave in reply and Ginny laughs as she carries him away, headed for Mike and Tillie. In the checkout lane, Rachel finds herself peeking over the magazine rack while David unloads her cart, inexplicably desperate to see them one more time. They're standing before the register, Tillie naming each fruit her mother pulls from the cart. The baby's babbling, trying to get ahold of Mike's beard. She's not sure what she feels, if she's jealous or envious. She doesn't want Mike (she'd have taken him back all those years ago if that was the case) but something tells her he was her chance at happiness. Or maybe that the karma for betraying him is that she'll always be less happy than him.

 **A/N: Don't forget to review! I'm also currently taking prompts/requests!**


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